Journal of Advanced Materials in Engineering (Esteghlal)

This study aims at investigation of the hydrogen damage after dissolution annealing and two-stage aging in aluminum 7075 alloy. Dissolution annealing was performed at 500 to 575 ^°C for duration of 1 to 20 hours. The first stage of two-stage aging was performed at 180, 200 and 220 ^°C for 30 minutes. The second stage was carried out at 120 and 150 ^°C for 10, 15 and 20 hours. Structural characteristics and chemical composition of precipitates was investigated using SEM and EDS methods, respectively. Reduction of the tensile strength in T6 process after hydrogenation reached to 150 MPa, although it decreased only, about 50 MPa in the two-stage process. Overall, tensile strength after hydrogen charging was significantly increased in the two-stage aging compared to the T6 process.

In the present article, RRA, T73 and T6 heat treatments were carried out to improve mechanical properties of 7075 aluminum alloy and its hardness, tensile and bending strengths were evaluated. For this purpose, solution annealing was performed at 530 ºC for 16 h. For T6 treatment, aging was executed at 150 ºC for 24 h after solution annealing. In T73, aging treatment was done in two stages after solution annealin, at 120 and 180 ºC for 7 and 20 h, respectively. RRA treatment was performed in three stages. The first stage was the same as T6 treatment, the second stage constitutes tempering at 200 ºC for
20 min and in the third stage aging process was repeated like T6 treatment. Evaluation of the microstructures and fractured surfaces were performed with optical microscopes (OM) and scanning electron microscopes (SEM). Energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS) was used to study the chemical composition of precipitates. Hardness, tensile and bending strength were evaluated according to ASTM E384-11e1, ASTM B557-06 and DIN 50121 standards. RRA treatment increased tensile strength from 466 to 485 MPa and hardness from 110 to 165 Vickers. After T6 treatment, tensile strength increased from 466 to 505 MPa and hardness from 110 to 160 Vickers. In T73 process, the tensile strength remained almost constant (465 MPa) but yield strength increased from 394 to 410 MPa and hardness decreased from 110 to 84 Vickers. The bending strength increased from 797 to 844, 920 and 1030 MPa in T73, RRA and T6 processes, respectively. By applying RRA process in optimized temperature and time, hardness, tensile and bending strengths of 7075 aluminum alloy were enhanced from 5 to 15% compared to that of T6 and T73 processes.